German Spacecraft Falls to Earth

A German spacecraft known as the Roentgen Satellite has re-entered Earth's atmosphere. It has been falling slowly toward Earth for several years, having been shut down in 1999 after eight and a half years of use. However, the exact location of where it will land cannot be predicted, though it is likely that it will land in the ocean. It is estimated that over half of its original mass will still be present when it lands, meaning a much larger amount of debris than what resulted from NASA's UARS satellite that fell to Earth back in September. The reason that the surviving material from this satellite is so much greater than the last one is because of the "more robust components" used in the German satellite. It is possible that new regulations may be enforced in the future that require spacecrafts to be designed so that a limited amount of material is able to fall back to Earth without burning up in the atmosphere. In the case of the Roentgen Satellite, however, around thirty pieces of debris from the falling satellite may reach Earth's surface.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15402157

Maci Mitchell